by LJ Byrne
“And I’m here because I’m financially backing her,” Jasper announces with that wicked smile focused at Thomas Carver.
“You can’t do that!” says an older woman. “Not without a majority vote!”
This time I speak. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Legacy members and their families didn’t need a majority vote to join.” I tilt my head quizzically at everyone.
Henry Caruso scratches his beard and I suppress a shudder. Jasper’s hand on my back tightens. “That’d be fine, little girl, but I don’t recall a Kano being a Legacy member.”
I pull out the first manilla envelope, handing it to Edgar to pass around. “Inside you will find DNA tests that confirm that I’m the biological daughter of Peter Spark. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that Spark is one of the Legacy families of the Club,” I state clearly, not meeting Lucas’s eyes as I glance around the room. There are a few gasps and startled murmurs, but Vanessa is pale and furious.
“Mason, be a dear and make sure my documents make it back to me,” I say with confidence. Brock’s eyes are so huge that I’m afraid he’s about to go into shock. “As you all have guessed, dearest Daddy kept my existence a secret. I have more information to share. Edgar Maverick is holding two additional notarized documents.”
Edgar takes up my narrative. “The first is a legal document by Corinne Spark identifying Elena Kano as her granddaughter. The second is a document confirming that Elena Kano has changed her name to Elena Spark. If I recall, the Spark family is worth several billion dollars.”
I continue to keep my eyes on Vanessa. “It seemed rude to ask Grandmother for a million so Lord Jasper has kindly offered to pay my dues to the club for the time being.” I disengage from Jasper and take the seat next to Edgar Maverick.
Michael Rhodes is pissed. It’s then that I notice Lucas sporting a fresh bruise to his cheek and marks around his neck. I grow cold as I clutch the second manilla envelope in my hands. “Welcome, Miss Spark,” Michael spits out. “Before we continue, I’ve disinherited my son and he is no longer welcome at these meetings.”
Lucas’s eyes flash briefly with pain before he hides it behind a mask.
“I want him and that one,” Rhodes points to Jasper, “out so we can conduct our meeting.”
I gesture Jasper over. “Take Lucas and Katrina to the Mavericks. I’ll meet you there after I’m done here,” I whisper into his ear.
“As my queen wishes,” he whispers back, his eyes full of wicked mirth.
Lucas proudly walks to the door behind me, stopping briefly to look at me. His eyes mirror his confusion and perhaps hurt. I think he doesn’t recognize me anymore.
Brock and Mason watch Lucas leave before focusing on me. They’re equally confused.
“So,” says an older man, once Lucas and Jasper are gone, “you’ve created quite a stir, Elena Spark. Why don’t you begin with why you are so eager to join?”
“It’s simple. Ladies and gentlemen,” I say, pulling out a wad of one-dollar bills. “I’m here to make a few bets.” I lift my chin arrogantly. “Shall we?”
EPILOGUE
Once upon a time, there was a little girl. Her father was a very rich man, but she never knew him, and he never knew her. She grew up poor. Her mother got sick. She was sick for a long time. When her father died, he left his money to everyone but his daughter. She didn’t care. Money made people mean. The girl didn’t have many friends. She was too odd, too quiet, too intense. She was bullied. One day a man came. He asked her to go to a land to find opportunities. In return, he would make her mother better. So, she left everything she’d ever known to move to a land to save her mother. Her mother got better. But the land was no haven. People were mean. People lied. People hurt her. One day, another man heard her singing. He told her that her singing could make the world better. She saw a chance to help others, but it wasn’t enough. She became angry. She walked around and there was more suffering. She couldn’t end the suffering without becoming that which she hated. And that’s what she did because it is far easier to destroy things from within.
BOOK 3 – RISING
PROLOGUE
“You play a hard game. You’re clever,” Michael Rhodes says to me, his teeth gleaming in the dim room. “It’s no wonder you demolished Lucas in academics.”
I lay my hands flat on the mahogany table. Vanessa Valentino leaves with her father, her eyes red-rimmed and angry. I don’t shrink from her stare. Her reign as queen is formally over, and there’s nothing she can do to retake it.
“What a fierce person you turned out to be,” Michael continues in that silky, dark voice that I’m sure women love. I only hear the voice of a person who hurts his son. “I was told you were a wallflower and a weakling. I’m certain I saw you break last year. Yet here you are. International fame, family connections, money. You’ve become the very thing you hate, my dear.” His smile annoys me.
Edgar Maverick signals to me that it’s time to go.
“Actually, I’m just a lot like Peter Spark,” I correct him, not rising to his dig. “And you should remember that. Peter Spark did not like it when people went against him.” I collect my papers – signed and legally binding at a cost.
“I have one more bet for you, Miss Spark,” Michael says, eyes glinting. “And I think you’ll take it.”
I expected this. I school my features. “Alright, I’m listening.”
CHAPTER 1
KATRINA
Since we got home, Lucas has been moody and silent. Jasper gave me the gist of everything: Lucas’s been disowned and tossed out of the Club by his father. I’m grateful my parents aren’t jerks.
When Elena revealed to me that she was Peter Spark’s biological daughter, my father’s reaction to Elena made sense. He was so insistent that Elena stay at Highbury Academy and that she belonged there. I know from Dad that Peter Spark was a jerk and a genius. I also know that Dad felt responsible for Peter never connecting with the world usefully. Elena inherited her father’s genius, but she’s more human and more observant
Brock and Mason come bursting into the room. Jasper stretches his long body, his eyes amused at the flurry of activity.
“Did you know?” Brock blurts to me as soon as he sees me. “About Elena being a Spark? About Peter Spark? Holy—”
“I did know,” I interrupt him calmly, looking at my brother. He’s rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
“She ran the whole meeting,” Mason says with a tinge of awe. “She just came in and started making bets and deals.”
Jasper perches on the arm of a sofa. “Where is she? I thought she’d be with one of you.” Jasper’s voice is civil, but there’s a hidden tension I’m starting to notice more and more.
“She’s coming home with my father,” Mason says, exhaling heavily.
Suddenly Lucas speaks, standing up in anger. His bruised cheek is stark against his tanned skin. “She’s one of them. One of you. An Elite. Wealthy. Part of the Club.”
I hear the judgment. Are boys always this stupid? “You idiot,” I snap. “She’s playing the game. The only thing she did was change her name.”
Jasper laughs wickedly in realization. Even he didn’t know. “You’re right. She never stated that she’s the sole heiress. Edgar Maverick only said that Spark fortune was a lot. The documents only said she’s the daughter of Peter Spark and the granddaughter of Corinne Spark.”
“She doesn’t want the money, but she knew she needed the name and assumed wealth to get into the Club,” I continue.
“Lucas,” Mason begins, “she came in swinging. She cornered the Valentinos and got Vanessa kicked out of the Club permanently. She bamboozled your father, too.”
Lucas pales, the pulse in his neck beating rapidly. “What do you mean?”
Brock rubs his face. “She didn’t come with us because she was making deals and getting them signed. She had every single document ready for signing. She bet the Valentinos that she could get enough votes to remove them from the Club.
If she won, Vanessa was to be kicked out. If she lost, she was ready to hand over patents she was awarded.”
“Patents?” Jasper’s brows rise in surprise as he pulls out his phone. “How did I overlook this?”
“She has a few patents to her name.” Mason blinks at me in shock at my statement.
“Songs, too. She gave my father two songs if he voted with her. The other Elites hate Vanessa, so Elena had enough votes with my father and Edgar siding with her.” Brock runs his hands over his face. “Brutal and glorious,” he says to himself.
Jasper is reading his phone. “Patents here on processes, design changes, chemical combinations… She filed these last summer…”
“Lucas, she fought for you,” Mason says, staring at Lucas strangely. “And she won.”
Lucas’s proud frame is rigid with tension. “Explain.”
There’s a faint snicker from Jasper. “What my queen wants, she gets,” Jasper says, draping himself bonelessly on the couch. “She wants you to finish your last year at Highbury. Your tuition for next year is covered, Mr. Rhodes. I’ve already paid for it.”
Lucas’s face turns livid, but Mason quickly says, “You can pay him back. Elena got your father to give you what’s left of your mother’s fortune. It’s about two hundred thousand. You’re not penniless.”
“How did she do that?” Lucas’s question is quiet, his eyes shuttered behind that tight control he’s trying to maintain.
“I don’t know.” Mason is still grappling with everything. “She issued the bet, then started whispering with Dad and your father. Then your father handed her a dollar and signed a document she pulled out. Dad is starting a cosmetics line with BSGirl.”
“And what about the one million she got from you, Jasper?” Lucas’s mouth tightens slightly as he addresses Jasper. “She doesn’t accept money for free, but she must’ve asked you for the money.”
Jasper doesn’t lookup. “I bargained with her. We have…an agreement. Don’t ask for the details, Lucas. This is between me and Elena.”
Mason just barely manages to stop Lucas from striking the other boy when Elena’s footsteps announce her arrival. Her almond-shaped eyes carefully take in everything. There’s a weariness about her that I haven’t seen before. When her brown eyes look at me, they’re guarded.
“This is for you, Lucas,” Elena says in a matter-of-fact tone, handing him an envelope. She waits for Lucas to open the contents and read the document. “You’ll need to provide a routing number for the money to be wired.”
“Elena, I—”
Elena’s cuts off Lucas quietly. “We’ll talk later. No sacrifices. Not for me, okay?”
“What about your sacrifices?” Lucas counters, not angry but frustrated.
“Are you angry with me? Because I didn’t tell you about my father?” Elena’s lips curl with distaste.
I don’t expect anyone to say yes. A glance confirms it. There’s surprise, but no resentment. But I wonder how many times Elena paused as she considered Spark Hall and the ski lodge. Her father had no intention of her being his true heir.
“I need you all to keep a secret for me,” Elena says, ignoring Lucas’s question. “It will get around that I’m now Elena Spark. My grandmother has agreed she won’t say anything contrary to this, but I am not the heir to the Spark fortune. I don’t want anything to do with my father’s money. But the other kids, except for Bruce and Charles, can’t know about that for the year. We want them to assume – we want everyone to assume – that I’ll inherit the Spark fortune.” She wraps her arms around her chest. “My PR team, with Corinne Spark’s approval, is spinning this as a ‘lost scion found’ type of story. My parents are moving to a small town. It isn’t too far from Rosebud Center if Mom needs more help, but for now, they’re disappearing into obscurity.”
“Your summer concert series is sold out,” Brock says unnecessarily.
Elena’s shoulders slump. “Yes, I know. I’ll do the summer tour. And then…” Her voice trails off as she looks out the window.
“Well, my queen, you’ve done it.” Jasper comes over to spin Elena gracefully. She barely cracks a smile. “The school will play by your rules.”
“I’m not done yet.” A hard look enters her eyes and her lips tighten. “I’m not done until I take down the Club. I’m exhausted,” Elena says to Jasper. “Will you drive me back to campus?”
“Why don’t you stay overnight?” my father suggests. “It’s been a long day. I think Mason has enough clothes to lend out and Katrina can share with Elena.”
I clap my hands. “Slumber party! Please say yes!” I jump up and down, pulling on Mason’s arm like I used to when I was little.
Brock exhales. “I’m game. Some pizza and maybe some time in the hot tub.”
Both Lucas and Jasper watch Elena, whose eyes are still distant. I can’t help but wonder if she’s chosen between the two. Finally, she says, “Sure, let’s do it.”
Mason takes the boys upstairs to find swimsuits, but my father gestures to me to come over. He glances briefly at Elena. “She has her father’s intelligence. Don’t let her lose her humanity, Katrina. Be there for her and make sure the ones who love her are there for her.” The hand he puts on my arm is warm and loving. I nod, giving him a quick hug.
I look at the girl who is now my best friend and I understand my father’s request. She’s so focused on changing the world that she’s losing sight of what makes her Elena. It’s been happening all year and she’ll lose herself to this desire to shape the world. I don’t know exactly how to help her, but I know I won’t give up on her.
My father is not strict about underage drinking – he lived many years in France and he’s fairly liberal when it comes to beer and wine. He doesn’t blink when we pour beer and wine into plastic cups to take to the hot tub.
Elena sticks to her mineral water, and I swear Dad wants to adopt her for being so awesome and wholesome. Some people might find that image nauseating, but not me and not any of the boys. It reminds me that she’s still the same girl who held her own and didn’t swoon every time one of the boys flexed in front of her. I still remember her face when she found Brock kissing and doing everything else with Ashley on his lap. Shock, horror, but no tears. If she felt something for him, she was smart enough not to commit herself to him emotionally. Later, she told me she was upset she bought a dress, not about Brock.
Elena’s borrowing one of my silk robes. The Asian style suits her, making her almond-shaped eyes even more exotic looking. I’ve seen pictures of Corinne Spark as a young girl, and Elena’s inherited that heart-shaped face and full lips, but her eyes and the contour of her cheeks come from her Japanese mother. She hesitates for a minute, her color heightening before she slips off the robe. She’s borrowing one of my more modest two-piece swimsuits, and all four boys watch her with different levels of interest as she drapes the robe on a chair and slips into the tub next to me.
Mason’s the first to make a self-mocking face as if he knows that he and Elena are an impossibility. As much as my heart hurts for my brother, he dumped glue on her, and it’s not something you come back from. Brock, on the other hand, dwells on Elena longingly before his eyes glance away. As sweet as they looked singing together on The Aurora Show, she’s far too complex for him.
Jasper looks at Elena the way I look at a piece of chocolate cake. Yes, it is that obscene. He reaches out to run his fingers through her shorter her. She hasn’t bothered growing it out and I think the new length is fabulous on her. “Just marry me already and make me a happy man,” he says with a naughty little smirk. “I’ll spend my days worshipping your genius.”
“You son of a bitch,” Lucas hisses, heat in his eyes, and I start to worry that they’re going to fight right in front of her.
“That sounds rather dull, don’t you think?” Elena deadpans at Jasper, and her response clears the air.
“Ah, I haven’t told you how I’ll worship you,” Jasper adds wickedly.
“Elena an
d I are attending the end of year party together,” Lucas states pointedly, enjoying the way Jasper’s face tightens.
“Is that so?”
Elena’s gaze is calm if a little weary. I think she needs a break. “Yes,” she confirms, not bothering to make excuses.
“We’ll all be in a bus together,” Mason says, trying to diffuse the tension. “Who cares who Elena picks as her date?”
Jasper collects himself. “My offer still stands. Marry me and I’ll even let you keep one of these boys if that’s what it takes.”
Elena doesn’t respond, but her eyes meet Lucas’s. I know her well enough to see what she’s thinking. Lucas has done the one thing Mason and Brock could never do: earn true redemption.
CHAPTER 2
By the end of summer, I’m exhausted and ready to take a nap. BSGirl’s last concert was in early August, so I get a few weeks to recover and recuperate before school begins.
Jasper spends the first month back in his homeland, but he returns to the States by July, following me from tour to tour. After moving in with the Mavericks, Lucas repays Jasper for tuition expenditures and is surprisingly quiet. Although he calls me every night, our conversations are disjointed and detached. I’m partially to blame. I’ve distanced myself deliberately.
I spend a week with Mom and John in their new home. As part of the licensing deal with Maverick Industries for a cosmetics line, Edgar Maverick pays for the new home – it is very modest—and after selling our old place, John uses that money to open his own auto shop.
Mom’s doing amazing. I don’t think she’ll ever be back to where she was, but she’s functioning with a mix of therapy and medication. I’m still not sure what triggered her mental collapse, and maybe it is a story that will remain a mystery to me. I accept that if I’m destined to know, Mom will tell me.